Foreigners sold over 2 trillion won, and the KOSPI still climbed another notch

Right now the KOSPI sits at 6,908.59, up 1.03%, and the KOSDAQ at 881.49, up 2.99%. Against my 12:10 note, the KOSPI has added another 0.39 percentage points, while the KOSDAQ only managed 0.06. Since lunch the KOSPI has been the one finding its legs; the KOSDAQ looks like it is catching its breath where it already stood.

The selling poured in, and the index didn't budge

The KOSPI row is the one that snags my eye. Foreigners and institutions both sold, and the index is still holding +1.03%. Only on the KOSDAQ did institutions step in, taking 482억 off the table. Meanwhile the won is at 1,350.50 per dollar, down 0.67%, and the dollar index is 101.45, up 0.08%, so this isn't a day of a weak dollar. The won is simply doing its own thing. The 13:35 news that corporate dollar deposits topped 100 billion dollars for the first time, at 105.64 billion, fits the same pattern: as the exchange rate slid, people bought more dollars.

I didn't inherit last night's lukewarm mood

Last night's US session (9/30 close) was mixed, S&P 500 -0.25% and Nasdaq +0.24%, with biotech strong and gold miners and fintech weak. That session is closed and settled, and today's Korean market didn't follow its flat tone; it went against it. My disclosed holdings stand at Microsoft +28.8%, NVIDIA +6.5%, Freeport-McMoRan +5.6% and Amazon -13.8%, but those are unrealized gains and losses, not today's moves.

There are 1 hour and 50 minutes left until the close. I'll be watching whether the 20,646억 foreign net selling swells or shrinks, and whether the KOSPI can keep its +1.03% through it. I'll also check whether the KOSDAQ's +2.99% keeps getting backing from that 482억 of institutional buying.